


The Girl With No Name

by Andromytta



Series: Vegas Nights [1]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Crime Scenes, Eventual Romance, F/M, Forensics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 20:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14386161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromytta/pseuds/Andromytta
Summary: Grissom crosses the crime scene tape and enters the studio apartment.  As he looks around the room, the first thing he notices is a young woman kneeling over the dead body on the floor.   Her hair and attire suggest that she does not belong at a crime scene.  Her long red hair is streaked with blue and arranged in braids a la Bo Derek in "10", save for two long strands of blue that hang free and frame her face.  She is wearing a pink and black plaid pleated mini skirt, pink suspenders, and a black tee shirt embossed with the Rolling Stones tongue logo in pink and silver rhinestones.  "Excuse me, miss, this room is a crime scene, you really shouldn't be here."





	The Girl With No Name

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2007 and originally posted it on the CSI Fan Board on CBS.com. Those boards don't exist any more, and it's a miracle I've been able to start tracking down these fics! This is the first fan fiction that made it out of my head and into actual words. 
> 
> I have to say, I've come a long way in a decade! But for a first effort, I'm kinda proud of it. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!

Grissom crosses the crime scene tape and enters the studio apartment.  As he looks around the room, the first thing he notices is a young woman kneeling over the dead body on the floor.   Her hair and attire suggest that she does not belong at a crime scene.  Her long red hair is streaked with blue and arranged in braids a la Bo Derek in "10", save for two long strands of blue that hang free and frame her face.  She is wearing a pink and black plaid pleated mini skirt, pink suspenders, and a black tee shirt embossed with the Rolling Stones tongue logo in pink and silver rhinestones.  "Excuse me, miss, this room is a crime scene, you really shouldn't be here."

She stands up and he can see an LVPD badge dangling from a chain around her neck.  "You must be from the crime lab.  I'm Detective Jude Harrison."

 "Ah, you're the new girl who just transferred in from LAPD, right?"

 "Yep, just got off the plane two hours ago, and already, I've got my first dead body."

 "Well, I don't know how they do things in LA, but here we don't touch the body until the coroner releases it."

 "I didn't touch her.  I was trying to get a closer look at the bullet wound to see if I could tell what caliber of gun was used.  It looks like a nine mil."

Just then, two more people cross the crime tape.  "Hello, David.  Hello, Greg."  Grissom greets the assistant coroner and a member of his CSI team.  David goes to the body and after a brief but thorough examination states, "It looks like a single GSW to the chest, probably a nine millimeter."  Det. Harrison smirks smugly at Grissom.  "Based on liver temp, the vic's been dead about four hours," David continues.

"Greg, you stay here and process the room.  I'm going to go back to the morgue with the body," Grissom states.

Detective Harrison chimes in, "Great, you boys do all your fun science stuff, and I'm going to knock on some doors and see if anyone heard anything.  Let me know if you get an ID on the vic.  The super said she doesn't live here and he's never seen her before.  I'm sure he's lying and I think he shot her."

Grissom rolls his eyes at the exuberance of the young detective and says, "She's all yours, Greg."  Then he and David take the body out of the room.

Greg looks up at her, as if seeing her for the first time.  "Whoa!  Who are you?"

"Detective Jude Harrison.  I just transferred here from LAPD."

 "You're too cute to be a cop"

"Yeah, well, you don't look much like a CSI.  What are you, 12?"  She then walks behind Greg, grabbing him by the shoulders and pointing him in the direction of the hall.  "See that shifty looking guy over there?  That's the building super.  Can you check his hands for GSR, and collect his fingerprints and DNA.  I assume you know how to run them through AFIS."

Greg heads into the hallway to collect evidence from the super, when one of the patrol cops on the scene says to him, "Hey, that new detective chick is pretty pushy, isn't she?"

 "Yeah, a little," he responds.

Jude nonchalantly walks over to them and states, "Dudes, I can hear every word you guys are saying.  I may be a little pushy, but a girl's just been murdered."  She pushes them out of the way and gets back to work.

*** 

Back at the morgue, Grissom joins Dr. Robbins where David has prepared the body for the autopsy.  "Any luck with an ID yet?"  He asks the coroner.

 "I had her prints run through AFIS, but she's not in the data base.  Care to guess COD?"

 "Single gunshot wound to the chest?"

 "Alright, so that was an obvious one.  Do you have any suspects yet?"

 "Well, Detective Harrison thinks the super did it."

"Well, if the super has blue hair, then the detective might be right.  I found a long blue hair on the body, with the skin tag still intact.  I sent it to DNA for processing."

"I have a hunch that hair belongs to our new lady detective but let's see what Wendy can find out for us." 

 Dr. Robbins looks at Grissom quizzically.  "The newbie has blue hair?"

 "Yeah, streaks of it.  And she looks more like a club kid than a cop."

"Ah, the new face of law enforcement," Dr. Robbins comments dryly.  "So how did one of her hairs end up on the body?"

"When I arrived at the scene, she was bent over the body trying to determine the caliber of gun that was used."

 "What did she think it was?"

"Nine millimeter."

"Well, you can tell her she's right."  Dr. Robbins drops a bullet into an emission basin.

Grissom looks at the bullet.  "Yep, that's a nine.  I'll call Greg and let him know."

"You'd better find out if the super owns a nine mil hand gun.  If she was right about the bullet, she could be right about him, too."

"Yeah, right.  I just hope it doesn't go to her head.  I'll call Greg on my way back out to the scene.  First, I'd better see Brass and secure a warrant to search the super's apartment."

*** 

Back at the crime scene, Greg is busy lifting latent prints from around the apartment when his cell phone rings.  "Sanders...Oh, hey Grissom...Did you realize there are about a million finger prints in this apartment?"

"I'm not surprised.  Listen, tell Detective Harrison she was right about the bullet.  It's a nine mil."

"She was right?  Great, she'll be thrilled!  I swear, I thought she was going to drop kick me with one of those hot pink Doc Marten's when I told her there was no GSR on the super's hands."

"You noticed what kind of shoes she was wearing?"

"Well, yeah.  Don't you always tell us we're supposed to be trained observers?"

"Goodbye, Greg."  Grissom rolls his eyes and hangs up his phone.

***

Jude makes her way back to the crime scene, only slightly disappointed that her suspicions hadn't panned out thus far.  "So, Sanders, have you found anything to incriminate the super yet?"

"Not yet.  But Grissom just called.  They pulled a nine millimeter slug out of the body."

Jude's face lit up.  "Hot damn!  Guess who has a nine millimeter registered to them?  The super!  We've got him!"  In her exuberance, she rushes over to the CSI and embraces him in a tight hug.  Suddenly, they hear someone clearing his throat behind them.  Embarrassed, they separate.

 Greg clears his throat awkwardly.  "Oh, hi, Grissom.  I didn't hear you come in."

"Apparently.  I hate to break up the celebration, but we can't arrest the super just yet.  All we have now is enough for a warrant."

"So get one!"  Jude practically shouts.

"That's why I'm here."  Grissom shows them the paper.  "Shall we go serve it?"

"Immediately!"  Jude states as she swipes the warrant out of Grissom's hand.  Grissom looks at Greg and raises an eyebrow, utterly intrigued by the sheer dominance the newbie has bestowed on this crime scene.

Greg looks over at him and just says, "She's so hot."  And they follow her out of the room.

***

They search the super's apartment and find the nine millimeter hand gun.  They take that, and a few other incriminating items back to the lab.  Det. Harrison has the patrol officer read the suspect his rights and take him to the police station for interrogation.  The creep "lawyers up" almost immediately, so Jude heads over to CSI to kill some time while she waits for the public defender to arrive at the station.  She finds Greg with Bobby Dawson in the ballistics lab.  "So, boys, do we have a match, or what?"  She asks right away, not wasting time on formalities such as "Hi, how are you?"

 "We're still working on it," Greg says.

 "These things take time," Bobby interjects.

Jude begins to pace around the ballistics lab while Greg is looking at the computer over Bobby's shoulder.  "You know, it's bad enough when you guys hover over me," Bobby says to Greg, "It's even worse when the cops do it."  He gestures with his head over to the pacing detective.  "Can you help me out here?"  He asks Greg in a hushed voice.

"Oh, yeah, I'll take care of it.  Page me when you get something."

"Will do."

Greg walks over to Jude and grabs her by her shoulders leading her out of the lab.  "Wait, what are you doing?"  She exclaims.

"We're going to get a cup of coffee and let Bobby Dawson do his job."  He leads her down the hall to the break room.  He sits her down in a chair, then goes over to make the coffee.  "You know, when I ran the DNA lab, nothing irritated me more than when CSIs or detectives would hover around me waiting for results.  Now, how do you take your coffee?"

"Ha!  Do you really expect me to drink that department issued swill?"

"Look, sweetheart, my coffee is _anything_ but swill.  This, my dear, is Blue Hawaiian."  He then goes on to tout the joys of Blue Hawaiian coffee.

"Blue Hawaiian, huh?  Pretty swanky.  That stuff's, like, 50 bucks a pound.  How do you afford that on a CSI salary?"

"There are some things you just _don't_ skimp on.  So, now, what would you like in your coffee?"

"Nothing.  Nothing in it, nothing on the side."

"My, my, the lady likes her joe straight up.  Woman after my own heart."  He sets the mug down in front of her then takes a seat at the table across from her.

"So, you used to run the DNA lab?  What made you give up the lab for the field?"

"I wanted more of a challenge.  The lab work comes too easy for me.  It was boring.  What about you?  What made you decide to become a cop?"

"My grandfather was a cop, and his father, and his grandfather.  He used to tell all of us grandkids stories about his days on the force.  They were the most fascinating tales.  Better than any of the books we would read as kids.  I have four older brothers and three male cousins, and I'm the only one who became a cop.  I mean, it's in our blood, but I'm the only one to follow in my granddad's footsteps."

"He must be very proud of you."

"He cried when I graduated from the academy.  My mother said that was the only time she had ever seen her father cry."

Just outside the break room, Warrick and Nick walk by and glance through the window in time to see Greg refill Jude's coffee from his coffee pot.  "Hey, Nick, check it out.  I thought Greg didn't share his coffee with anybody but Grissom."

"Yeah, and he only does that because he has too."

"Looks like Greg might be sweet on the new lady cop."

"Whoa...she's a cop?"

A female voice pipes in from behind.  "Yeah, she just transferred from LA.  I knew the moment I saw her that she'd get Greg's attention.  Now, if I had known she'd get _all_ the boys' attention, I'd have taken the night off."

"Oh, hey, Catherine," Nick says awkwardly, "Warrick and I were just on our way to AV to see if Archie got anything off that casino tape."  Nick chances one last gleam of the new cop as he and Warrick make their way to the AV lab.

Catherine walks into the break room.  "So, Greg, can I get a cup of that...oh, sorry, I almost forgot that's your special coffee," she says, forming air quotes around word "special", "That you only share with Grissom."

Absorbing that information, Jude looks at Greg and raises an eyebrow, "So, am I infringing on some special Sanders-slash-Grissom ritual here?"

Realizing exactly what Jude is implying, it takes all her will power for Catherine to keep from laughing out loud.  Trying not to blush, Greg responds, "It's not a ritual.  I only share with Grissom because he makes me.  But I figured since this is your first case in Vegas, I should share the good stuff, since it's a special occasion."

Unable to control her mirth any longer, Catherine manages to get out, "I'd better go check on Nick and Warrick."  She then quickly exits the room.

Greg is about to say something about Catherine's behavior when his pager goes off.  "It looks like Bobby Dawson has something for us."

"Awesome!"  Jude exclaims, "Let's go see what he has so I can put that scum bag behind bars where he belongs!"

Back in the ballistics lab, Bobby Dawson greets them with, "I've got bad news—and interesting news.  Which do you want first?"

Greg answers, "Hit us with the bad news first.  May as well get it over with."

"Ok, well, the bullet from your victim doesn't match your suspect's gun, and unfortunately, there are no hits in IBIS.  But here's the interesting thing, the bullet from your suspect's gun matches an armed robbery case from two years ago."

Greg looks over at Jude, "Well, you were right about that guy being guilty; he's just not guilty of what you thought."

"Yeah.  Dammit.  Oh well, lawyer or no lawyer, I'm going to call PD and have him booked for armed robbery."  Jude gets out her cell phone to make the call.

Greg looks at Bobby and says, "Thanks, dude.  Guess I'd better get this over to Grissom and see if we have any other leads."

"Yeah.  Good luck, man," Bobby replies.  Greg leaves the room and Jude follows.

Greg enters Grissom's office to find him sitting there with Captain Brass.  Greg explains the ballistics results to Grissom, and he responds, "Great, so the only evidence that leaves us with is a room full of finger prints that all lead back to the vic, and an errant blue hair that was found her clothing."  He looks pointedly at Jude as he says the last part.

"Hey, it's not mine," she says, "I was very careful to be sure no part of my body touched any part of the victim's body."

"Well, we'll know soon enough.  It had a skin tag attached, so I sent it to Wendy for DNA analysis," Grissom replies.

Brass speaks up for the first time during the interchange only to say, "Detective Harrison, I'd like to see you in the hallway.  Now."

Out in the hallway, Brass takes in Jude's attire.  "I wasn't going to say anything, since this is your first night in town, but now it's starting to interfere with the case.  You really need to tone down your look."

Looking appalled, Jude answers, "What?  Why?  This look worked perfectly well in LA."

"Well, this isn't LA, this is Vegas.  And you're not working undercover in vice anymore.  This is homicide, and I expect a bit more decorum from my detectives."

"I'll see what I can do, captain.  Tomorrow.  Tonight, I'm still on a case."

"OK, fine, but first thing tomorrow I want to see a change."

They return to Grissom's office at the same time Wendy arrives with the DNA results.

"I've got the results from that blue hair you found on the victim."  Wendy Sims announces to the room in general.

"Let me guess," Grissom says, "It came back 'compliance' to Detective Jude Harrison?"

"No, as a matter of fact, not only did it not come back to her, the hair is male.  There were no hits in CODIS, unfortunately.  I did, however, find a weird substance coating the hair.  I sent it to Hodges for trace analysis."

"Great, I'm going to check with Hodges and see what he found."  Greg stated as he left the office.

"Wait up, I'm going with you," Jude says and follows him out of the room.

Barging into the trace lab, Greg immediately inquires, "So, Hodges, did you get anything from that hair Wendy sent over yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I did.  But not so fast.  Are you going to introduce me to your friend here?"

Greg rolls his eyes and sighs, annoyed, as if Hodges were infringing on his territory.  He introduces them in a disinterested sort of way, "David Hodges, Detective Jude Harrison.  Detective Jude Harrison, David Hodges..."

"Here to service all of your trace analysis needs," Hodges pipes up, in a most haughty manner.

Jude snickers and rolls her eyes.  "Is he for real?"

"Yes, unfortunately, he is," Greg answers, dead pan.  He then turns to Hodges, "Now, do you have my results?"

Having had all of the wind taken out of his sails, he answers deflatedly, "Yes.  The substance coating the blue hair found on your victim is cooking grease.  The type used in fast food restaurants to make fries."

"Excellent!"  Jude exclaims.  "Can you trace it to the restaurant it came from?"

"Unfortunately, no.  Fast food franchises are as secretive with their fry formulas as hot dog manufacturers are with their ingredients."

"Too bad.  And I thought we were so close!"  Jude gripes.

"We haven't got him yet, but this gets us closer," Greg says, "I think I need to go back to the crime scene."

"Terrific.  Can we do it tomorrow?"  Jude asks, "its 8 a.m., I've been up for 24 hours, been in Vegas for 18, and I haven't even been to my house yet.  I need to get some sleep."

"OK, meet me there later on this evening."

***

Later on that day, after getting a little bit of sleep, Jude decides to take Captain Brass' suggestion to heart—sort of.  She dresses in a pleated khaki mini skirt, white button down dress blouse with short, puffed princess sleeves, and tan Doc Marten boots.  Despite the dressiness of the blouse, it barely covered her pierced naval.  Next, she found the location of the nearest Rave salon, her favorite chain of hair stylists.  She wasn't about to have her braids removed, but she did have the stylist take down the blue ones in order to have them bleached.  As she was sitting in the drying chair waiting for the bleach to time out on her foil-wrapped hair, she sees a young man walk in who catches her attention.  His hair was short and black, save for a long section of blue hair that hung in his face.  He immediately takes a seat and asks for a buzz cut.  Jude asks her hair dresser who that kid is.

"Oh, that's Daniel Roberts.  He works up the street at the In & Out Burger.  Comes in here all the time to get his hair done."

"Why would an Emo kid like that ask for a buzz cut?"

"Oh, I would imagine for the same reason you came in for a bleach job.  That murdered girl who's all over the news.  They say the only lead the cops have is a strand of blue hair."

Jude curses the media silently to herself.  She watches the kid get his hair cut, pay, and leave.  Before the shampoo girl can sweep the hair up into a pile, she speaks up.  "Hold it, I'm Detective Harrison from LVPD, and I need to collect that hair as evidence."  She immediately pulls out her cell phone and calls the crime lab.  "This is Detective Harrison.  I need a CSI at the Rave Salon on Flamingo for evidence collection."  As soon as she puts her phone away, the timer goes off and it's time to have her hair rinsed.  "Don't touch that evidence while I'm under the faucet."

***

Back at the lab, Greg returns with very little new evidence he collected from the crime scene.  After logging it in, he wanders around the lab looking for someone.  He spots Grissom and Catherine in the break room and goes in.  "Hey, have you guys seen Detective Harrison?  She was supposed to meet me at the crime scene, but she never showed up."

"Apparently, she found some evidence at a hair salon.  I sent Nick to do the collection," Grissom responds.

"What?  Why did you send Nick?  This is my case."

"You were busy.  Nick wasn't," was Grissom's reply.

Catherine adds, "Don't worry, Greg, I don't think Nick is Jude's type."

"So, are you going to tell us what you found at the crime scene?"  Grissom asks.

"Oh, yeah, well, I checked the drain in the tub and found more blue hair.  I also found shoved in a corner under the bed a wrapper from In & Out Burger.  That strange substance that was coating the hair was cooking grease, so I'm thinking our killer probably works at the burger joint," Greg explains enthusiastically.

"And you didn't find any of this the first time around?"  Grissom asks.

"Umm..no.  But, dude, there were, like, a million prints..."

"Yeah, and you were distracted by a certain red head," Grissom interrupts him.

"That might be true," Greg rushes to defend himself, "But I went back and found the evidence I missed."

"OK," Grissom replies.

***

After her adventure at the salon, Jude heads over to the police department to check in with her captain and see if he approves of her "toned down" look.  Though she elected to keep her red hair in braids, the new blonde strands hung free in waves.  She had her hair pulled up into pony tails on either side of her head.  She still had two strands of long hair as a frame for her face.  She had added a tan tweed tailored suit jacket to her ensemble.  She walks into Brass' office.  "So, captain, is this better?"

He looks up from his lunch and looks her over.  "Well, it is better.  At least your hair isn't blue anymore.  They need you over at CSI.  Apparently they have some new info on your case."

"Excellent.  I'm on my way."  Being that it was a warm Las Vegas evening, Jude put her jacket in her locker before heading over to the crime lab.

She walks through the lab looking for Greg to get an update on the case, and as she walks by the AV lab, she can't help but notice the attractive Asian man in the lab.  Just as she is about to go in and introduce herself, Greg walks up to her.  "Why do you look like a deranged Girl Scout?"  He asks, observing her "conservative" attire.

"Wow, nice greeting, dude.  If you must know, I was informed that since I am no longer undercover in vice, I have to 'tone down' my look."

Greg looks her up and down.  "Yeah, that looks real 'toned down'."  He picks up a strand of blonde hair hanging near her face.  "I kind of miss the blue, though."

"Yeah, so do I.  Oh well, in a few weeks I might try purple and see how that goes over.  Now, tell me about the case."

"OK, so get this.  The hair you and Nick collected had the same cooking grease on it as the hair we found on the body and the hair I pulled out of the tub drain at the crime scene.  And I found a wrapper from In & Out Burger under the bed."

"The kid from the salon works at In & Out Burger!"

"That should be enough to compel a DNA sample, and if it matches, slam dunk!"

"Great!  I'll call the judge!"  Jude exclaims as she pulls out her cell phone..... .after a few minutes she snaps the cell phone close and pumping her fist yells, "YESSSS the warrant is ours!!!! Let's Go!"  Jude grabs the tan plaid fedora off of Greg's head and puts it onto her own.  "What?  It matches my outfit."  She says as she starts toward the exit.

***

Nick and Warrick are sitting in the break room discussing their case when Archie walks in to refill his coffee cup.  "Hey guys," he greets them.

"Hey Archie.  How are things in AV?"  Nick asks.

"Slow, believe it or not.  Hey, do either of you guys know who that cute red head that's been hanging around the lab the past couple of days is?"

"Yeah, dude, that's Greg’s new girlfriend," Warrick replies.

"Yeah, in his dreams," Nick adds, "She's actually the new homicide detective.  Why?  Are you interested too?"

"Me?  No way.  My girlfriend would kill me.  But I definitely got the feeling she was checking me out."

"Oh yeah, because you're Archie Johnson, lab rat-lady killer," Hodges pipes in from the doorway.

"You're just upset because she shot you down," Nick says.

"Sanders has a big mouth.  And she didn't shoot me down.  You have to be asked out in order to shoot someone down, and, technically, I never asked her out."

"Greg didn't tell me about it.  Jude did," Nick answered.

"She was talking about me?  What did she say?"

"Oh, she just told me how you introduced yourself.  She wanted to know if that was some kind of lab geek pick up line."

"Really?  What did she say?  Did she find it endearing?"

"Um...endearing is not exactly the word she used."

"Oh yeah?  What word did she use?"  Archie asks, looking quite amused by the conversation.

"I believe her exact word was 'creepy'."

Upon receiving that information, Archie and Warrick can't help but laugh.  Hodges hides his dismay behind a veneer of "I meant to do that."  He responds by saying, "Good to know.  I'll have to remember that so when I meet a girl I actually like, I'll know not to use that line."

"Oh, so it was just an experiment?"  Warrick asks.

"Yes, it was.  I'm a scientist," Hodges responded.

"What did you say anyway?"  Archie asked.

"I'm here to service all of your trace analysis needs."  That sends Nick, Archie, and Warrick into another fit of laughter.  Hodges sits down at the table and puts his head in his hands.  "That was pretty creepy, wasn't it?" he asks.

"Yeah, man, that was pretty bad," Nick responds.

"It doesn't matter anyway, she is probably just as interested in Greg as he is obviously interested in her," Hodges remarks.

"I wouldn't count on that," Nick says, "she asked me about him, too.  She was asking if he's gay," Nick says with an amused smile.

"Really?  What did you tell her?" Archie asks.

"Well, let's just say that I neither confirmed nor denied her suspicions."

"Whoa, man, that's just plain evil," Warrick says, laughing, despite himself.  The guys eventually change the subject, returning to discussions of cases they're working on.

***

Having served the warrant, Greg and Jude had the suspect escorted to the police department for DNA collection and interrogation.  "Daniel Roberts, I'm Detective Jude Harrison.  This is Greg Sanders from the crime lab.  You've been made aware of your rights?"  Daniel nods.  "So, you know you have the right to have a lawyer present while we question you, right?"

"I don't need a lawyer.  I didn't do anything wrong," Daniel replies.

"OK," Jude says, "Then I just need you to sign this paper stating that you have been made aware of your rights and that you're refusing your right to counsel."  Daniel nods and signs the paper.  "Thank you," Jude says as she pulls out the warrant.  "Now, this sheet of paper gives us permission to collect a DNA sample from you.  CSI Sanders is going to collect that sample, as well as take your fingerprints."

Greg gets the cheek swab and takes the young man's fingerprints.  "I'm going to take this back to the lab.  I'll let you know what I find out," he says before leaving the interrogation room to head to the lab.

"OK, Daniel, it's just you and me now.  Do you want to tell me what happened between you and that girl in that crappy apartment?"

"Nothing happened.  I didn't do anything wrong.  I don't even know what I'm doing here."

"You'd better stop lying to me right now.  If you just tell me what happened, I can talk to the DA and tell him you cooperated.  If you don't talk and I have to wait for the crime lab to match your DNA to the hair we found on the victim, then all bets are off.  Now, do you want to start talking?"

"What hair?  What are you talking about?  The news said that the hair you found was long...and blue.  My hair is short and brown."

"Daniel, Daniel, don't you know, you can change your hairstyle, but you cannot change your DNA."

Daniel's face goes from just looking frightened to looking positively terrified.  "If-if it's not too late, I think I'd like a lawyer now," he manages to stammer.

"That is still your right," Jude responds, "And if you can't afford one, we can get a public defender for you."

"No, I can afford one.  I just need to call my dad.  I get a phone call, right?"

"Yes, you do," she says.  She looks at the guard in the room with them.  "Will you show him where the phone is?"

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replies, and leads the suspect out.

Folding her arms on the table, Jude drops her head in them and groans.  After briefly venting her frustration, she picks up her phone and calls Greg, hoping he will have some news for her.  He answers his phone, "Sanders..."

"Do you have anything for me yet?"  Jude asks without as much as a hello.

"Well, hello to you, too," he replies, "You have got to be the most impatient detective I've ever met.  You are aware that all of this 'science stuff' as you call it takes time?  I'm guessing you didn't get anything from the kid?"

"Nada...as in 'Nada damn thing'.  As soon as I told him he could change his hairstyle, but not his DNA, he changed his mind about a lawyer."

"So...you're waiting on a lawyer, and I'm waiting on DNA results.  Want to grab something to eat while we wait?"

"Sure, I could eat."

"Great.  There's a great little café up the street called The Corner Bistro.  I'll meet you there in 10."

"OK, see you there."  Jude hangs up her phone, retrieves her jacket from her locker, and stops by the front desk on her way out.  "I'm heading up the street to grab something to eat.  Will you page me the second Daniel Roberts' attorney shows up?"

"Yes, detective," the woman at the front desk responds.

"Thanks," Jude says, and then she heads out.

Jude meets Greg at the café; they take a corner table and order their food.  As they are waiting, they discuss the case and various other things.  When the food arrives, Greg's cell phone rings.  "Sanders...Oh, hey Sara...Of course we miss you...How's San Francisco?  Have you talked to Grissom yet?  Yeah, I understand...Oh well, I guess I'll talk to you later, then....Take care of yourself...Bye."

"Who was that?  Your ex-girlfriend?" Jude asks.

"Oh, no, just a friend.  She used to work for the lab.  We were kind of close."

"I see..."

They continue to eat and make conversation, comfortable with one another, despite having just met.  They barely finish their food when their pagers go off.  "Our DNA results are in," Greg announces.

"Great.  Get them and meet me back at PD.  The kid's lawyer just arrived," Jude says.

"Alright, I'll meet you there," he replies.

As Greg leaves the DNA lab with the results, Hodges stops him before he can head over to the police station.  "Hey, Sanders, how goes things with you and Detective Harrison?"

"Not that it's any of your business, Hodges, but we did just have dinner together."

"Yeah, well, did _she_ think it was a date?"

"I don't know.  Why?  What do you know?"

"Well, according to your good friend Nick Stokes, Jude thinks you're gay."

"What?"  Greg asks in disbelief.

"Yup, according to Nick, the fair detective was investigating the mystery of your sexuality."

"Wait...what did Nick tell her?"

"Well, according to Nick, he neither 'confirmed no denied' her suspicions.  Not exactly the best way to start a relationship if you ask me."

“He’s not exactly wrong,” he mutters to himself.  Out loud, he says, "Well, no one was asking you, Hodges.  I've gotta go."  Greg leaves, once again headed out to go to police headquarters when he sees Nick enter the layout room and decides to confront him.  "Hey, Stokes, we gotta talk!"

"Ha ha," Nick laughs, "I guess you've been talking to Hodges?"

"Um, yeah.  Why didn't you just tell Jude the truth instead of 'refusing to confirm or deny' her 'suspicions'?  I mean, normally I don't care what anyone thinks of me, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of interested in this girl."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Nick replied, "And let's just say one good turn deserves another."

"What are you talking about, man?"

"Remember a few years ago when there was that Crime Stoppers article about me, and you took it upon yourself to post it all over the lab?"

"Dude, that was, like, five years ago."

"Yeah, well, I told you I'd get you back for that, and I did."

Just then, Greg's phone rings.  "Hello?"

"Where the hell are my DNA results?"  Jude practically shouts into the phone and then hangs up.

"Oh, man, I've gotta go.  But this isn't over!"  Greg says as he rushes out of the lab.

When he arrives at the police station, Greg finds Jude already in the interrogation room with the suspect and his lawyer.  He hands her the folder with the results and whispers to her that they should talk later.  Jude opens the folder and reads the results.  She looks Daniel directly in the eyes and says, "It's just as I thought.  Your DNA is an exact match to the hair we found on the dead girl."

His lawyer responds, "That just proves my client knew the victim, not that he shot her."

Jude turns to face the lawyer.  "OK then, if your client knew the victim, then who was she?  We still don't have an ID, and we'd like to know who to notify about her death."

Daniel speaks up for the first time, "I didn't know her name.  We met at a bar.  I didn't ask her name, and she didn't ask for mine."

"So, what, you just go home with random girls you pick up at bars and don't even ask their names?"  Jude has completely turned off the more understanding persona she had used with the suspect the first time around.  She hated dealing with lawyers on a professional basis, and that included her twin brother, John, who she wanted to shoot him every time he went into "lawyer-speak."

Daniel starts to answer when his lawyer pipes in, "I'm advising my client not to answer any more of your questions."

"Oh, that's fine," Jude answers.  "We don't need him to answer anymore questions.  We have more than enough evidence to book your client on first degree murder," she looks at Daniel, "That's 25 to life, assuming you can avoid the death penalty."

Daniel looks at his lawyer, "Please, I need to tell them what happened...explain."

"Daniel, don't say another word," his lawyer warns.

"No, it's ok, I want to."

"Fine," his lawyer responds, he then turns to Jude, "I want in on the record that he is doing this against counsel's advice."

"So noted," Jude responds disdainfully to the litigator before turning back to Daniel, "Go ahead, and tell me what happened."

"OK, so I pick up this girl at Ghost Bar.  She's gorgeous, and I'm kind of surprised she wants to talk to me.  I start to introduce myself, and she stops me.  'No names,' she says.  So, I think that must be what she's into, hooking up with total strangers."

"Then what happened?"  Jude asks.

"Then, she takes me to this old apartment building and we go to this apartment that at first I thought was hers, until she starts to pick the lock.  So, I'm thinking that breaking and entering must be like foreplay for her.  Now, at this point, I'm rolling pretty heavily on E, so I'm pretty much down for anything.  When she opens the door, it looks like she's been living there.  None of that mattered to me.  I was just hoping to get laid."

"Wait a minute," Greg stops him, "If you were there, how come we didn't find your finger prints anywhere in the apartment?"

"That's because I didn't touch anything.  Except for the gun."

"And where did you get the gun?"  Jude asks.

"Daniel, I really recommend you stop talking now," his lawyer interrupts.

"No, Dad, I want to tell them what happened," Daniel says, and then he continues his story.  "I got the gun from her.  She gave it to me.  It was hers.  'Do you want to try something really wild?' she asks me, and then she pulls the gun out of the desk drawer and hands it to me.  'Have you ever killed anyone before?  It's such an unbelievable rush,' she said to me.  I was freaking out, but I was so high, I couldn't focus.  She kept backing me up until I was in the bath tub.  I didn't want to shoot her, but before I knew it, the gun just went off."

"If it was an accident, then why didn't you call 911?"

"I was scared.  I didn't want to go to jail."

"And what did you do with the gun?"

"I told you, I was scared, so I threw it into Lake Mead."

"That's it, we're done here," the lawyer says, "Just so you know, we'll be pleading diminished capacity."

"That's between you and the DA, but for now, your son is under arrest," Jude looks at Daniel, "You're under arrest for the murder of Jane Doe '07-123."  The patrol officer hand cuffs Daniel and leads him from the room, reading him his rights.  His father follows them out.

 Greg walks Jude out to her car.  "So, do you think it was an accident?"  He asks.

"I don't know.  That's for the lawyers to duke out," she answers, "What's really bugging me is that we will never know who this girl was.  That really sucks."

"Yeah, it does.  Welcome to homicide.  Whoa!  Is this your car?" he suddenly blurts out as they approach a royal blue Corvette Z06.

"Yeah, it was a gift from my parents when I made detective.  So, anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I heard you were asking Nick about me..."

"Um...yeah, I was just wondering...."

He suddenly steps toward her and retrieves his hat from atop her head, derailing her train of thought.  He then grabs her by the lapels of her jacket and lays a serious kiss on her.  "There, now you won't wonder anymore," he says as he turns and walks away. 

Jude puts her finger tips to her lips, shakes her head, and mutters "Damn," under her breath before getting in her car and driving home.

 


End file.
